Bilateral Bargaining 06-09-12

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Bilateral Bargaining with Externalities*

by

Catherine C. de Fontenay and Joshua S. GansUniversity of Melbourne

First Draft: 12 th August, 2003This Version: 12 th September, 2006

This paper provides an analysis of a non-cooperative but bilateral bargaininggame between agents in a network. We establish that there exists an equilibriumthat generates a cooperative bargaining division of the reduced surplus that arisesas a result of non-pecuniary externalities between agents. That is, we provide anon-cooperative justification for a cooperative division of a non-cooperativesurplus. This also represents a non-cooperative foundation for the Myerson-Shapley value as well as a new bargaining outcome with properties that areparticularly useful and tractable in applications. We demonstrate this by examiningfirm-worker negotiations and buyer-seller networks. Journal of Economic

Literature Classification Number: C78.

Keywords . bargaining, Shapley value, Myerson value, networks, games in partitionfunction form.

* We thank Roman Inderst, Stephen King, Roger Myerson, Ariel Pakes, Ariel Rubinstein, MichaelSchwarz, Jeff Zwiebel, seminar participants at New York University, Rice University, the University of Auckland, the University of California-San Diego, the University of Southern California, the University of Toronto, the University of Washington (St Louis), participants at the Australian Conference of Economists,the Australasian Meetings of the Econometric Society, the International Industrial OrganizationConference, and, especially, Anne van den Nouweland for helpful discussions. Responsibility for all errorslies with the authors. Correspondence to: [email protected] . The latest version of this paper isavailable at www.mbs.edu/jgans .
mailto:[email protected]://www.mbs.edu/jganshttp://www.mbs.edu/jgansmailto:[email protected]


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1. Introduction

There are many areas of economics where market outcomes are best described by

an on-going sequence of interrelated negotiations. When firms negotiate over

employment conditions with individual workers, patent-holders negotiate with several

potential licensors, and when competing firms negotiate with their suppliers over

procurement contracts, a network of more or less bilateral relationships determines the

allocation of resources. To date, however, most theoretical developments in bargaining

have either focused on the outcomes of independent bilateral negotiations or on

multilateral exchanges with a single key agent.

The goal of this paper is to consider the general problem of the outcomes that

might be realised when many agents bargain bilaterally with one another and where

negotiation outcomes are interrelated and generate external effects. This is an

environment where (1) surplus is not maximised because of the existence of those

external effects and the lack of a multilateral mechanism to control them; and (2)

distribution depends upon which agents negotiate with each other. While cooperative

game theory has developed to take into account (2) by considering payoff functions that

depend on the precise position of agents in the graph of network relationships, it almost

axiomatically rules out (1). In contrast, non-cooperative game theory embraces (1) but

restricts the environment considered symmetry, two players, small players, etc. to

avoid (2).

Here we consider the general problem of a set of agents who negotiate in pairs.

All agents may be linked, or certain links may not be possible for other reasons (e.g.,

antitrust laws preventing horizontal arrangements among firms). Our environment is such


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that pairs of agents negotiate over variables that are jointly observable. This might be a

joint action such as whether trade takes place or an individual action undertaken by

one agent but observed by the other (e.g., effort or an investment). We specify a non-

cooperative game whereby each pair of agents in a network bargains bilaterally in a pre-

specified sequence (although the order does not matter for the equilibrium we focus on).

Pairwise negotiations utilise an alternating offer approach where offers and acceptances

are made in anticipation of deals reached later in the sequence. Moreover, those

negotiations take place with full knowledge of the network structure and the ability to

make terms contingent upon that structure should it change. Specifically, the network may become smaller should other pairs of agents fail to reach an agreement.

We consider a situation in which the precise agreement terms cannot be directly

observed outside a pair, and we focus on an attractive equilibrium outcome of the

incomplete information game. That outcome involves agents negotiating actions that

maximise their joint surplus (as in Nash bargaining) taking all other actions as given.

Hence, with externalities, outcomes are what might be termed bilaterally efficient

rather than socially efficient.

The equilibrium set of transfers also gives rise to a precise structure; namely, a

payoff that depends upon the weighted sum of values to particular coalitions of agents.

This has a cooperative bargaining structure but with several important differences. First,

the presence of externalities means that coalitions do not maximise their surplus, as

equilibrium actions are bilaterally efficient rather than socially efficient. Second,

coalitions may impose externalities on other coalitions; thus, the partition of the whole

space is relevant. Thus, the equilibrium outcome is a Shapley allocation generalized to


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partition function spaces (as in Myerson 1977b) and networks in those partition spaces,

but over a surplus that is characterised by bilateral rather than social efficiency. 1 Third,

the restricted communication space may give rise to further inefficiencies, if certain

agents are missing links between them and cannot negotiate, but instead choose

individually optimal actions. Jackson and Wolinsky (1996) generalise Shapley/Myerson

values to environments where a coalitions payoff depends on the link structure; the

equilibrium outcomes and payoffs in this model likewise depend on the link structure.

In sum, we have a non-cooperative foundation for a generalised Shapley division

of a non-cooperative surplus; which is easy to use in applied settings. To our knowledge,no similar simple characterisation exists in the literature for a multi-agent bargaining

environment with externalities.

The usefulness of this solution to applied research seems clear. The seminal paper

in the theory of the firm, Hart and Moore (1990), and myriad subsequent papers assume

that agents receive the Shapley value in negotiations, as it captures the impact of

substitutability but without the extreme solutions of other concepts such as the core.

However, there is an inherent discomfort to applying Shapley values in non-cooperative

settings. Because Shapley values do not take into account externalities, the theory of the

firm has been limited in terms of which types of strategic interactions can be studied. In

contrast, the analysis presented here allows us to study a fully non-cooperative game of

non-contractible and contractible investments and actions between agents (see de

Fontenay and Gans 2005 for an example). Moreover, it allows us to contribute to the

modeling of buyer-seller networks. Up until now, the papers addressing this issue have

1 In the absence of externalities, it reduces to the Myerson value, and if further the network is complete, itreduces to the Shapley value.


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needed to restrict their attention to environments with a restrictive network structure,

such as common agency, or to an environment with no externalities (Cremer and

Riordan, 1987; Kranton and Minehart, 2001; Inderst and Wey, 2003; Prat and Rustichini,

2003; Bjornerstedt and Stennek, 2002). Our solution combines the intuitiveness and

computability of Shapley values, with a serious treatment of the consequences of

externalities for payoffs and efficiency. As such, it is capable of general application in

these environments. 2

The paper proceeds as follows. In the next section, we review the current

literature on non-cooperative foundations of the Shapley and Myerson values. Section 3then introduces our action space which is the principal environmental restriction in this

paper. Our extensive form game is introduced in Section 4. The equilibrium outcomes of

that game are characterised in Sections 4 and 5; first with the equilibrium outcomes as

they pertain to actions and then to distribution. Section 6 then considers particular

economic applications including wage bargaining with competing employers and buyer

seller networks. A final section concludes.

2. Literature Review

Winter (2002, p.2045) argues that [o]f all the solution concepts in cooperative

game theory, the Shapley value is arguably the most cooperative, undoubtedly more so

than such concepts as the core and the bargaining set whose definitions include strategic

interpretations. Despite this, the Shapley value has emerged as an outcome in a number

2 There is also a literature on inefficiencies that arise in non-cooperative games with externalities (see, forexample, Jeheil and Moldovanu (1995). The structure of our non-cooperative game is of a form thateliminates these and we focus, in particular, on equilibria without such inefficiencies. As such, thatliterature can be seen as complementary to the model here.


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of non-cooperative settings. Harsanyi (1985) noted the emergence of the Shapley value in

games that divide surplus based on unanimity rules. However, recent attempts to provide

a non-cooperative foundation for the Shapley value have focused, for the most part, on

the outcomes of a series of bilateral negotiations.

Gul (1989) proposed a game where a single agent can generate utility from

consuming resources that are initially dispersed. His trading game has individual agents

meeting randomly to conduct bilateral trades. Each bilateral negotiation involves one

agent being selected at random to make a take-it-or-leave-it purchase offer to the other

agent. Successful trades result in the seller leaving the game with their earnings.Essentially, a trade is equivalent to a seller agreeing to join the buyers coalition.

Eventually, sufficient trades occur that the grand coalition is formed with, for sufficiently

patient players, the unique stationary subgame perfect outcome (with no delay) with each

agent receiving (in expectation) their Shapley value. The economic environment is quite

specialised here, however, as it essentially amounts to a sequence of discrete trades with

no other actions being feasible.

Stole and Zwiebel (1996) examined an environment where a firm bargains

bilaterally with a given set of workers. While their treatment is for the most part

axiomatic, focusing on a natural notion of stable agreements, they do posit an extensive

form game for their environment. In this extensive form game, there is a fixed order in

which each worker bargains with the firm. Any given negotiation has the worker and firm

taking turns in making offers to the other party that can be accepted or rejected. Rejected

offers bring with them an infinitesimal probability of an irreversible breakdown where

the worker leaves employment forever. Otherwise, a counter-offer is possible. If the


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worker and firm agree to a wage (in exchange for a unit of labour), the negotiations move

on to the next worker. The twist is that agreements are not binding in the sense that, if

there is a breakdown in any bilateral negotiation, this automatically triggers a replaying

of the sequence of negotiations between the firm and each remaining worker. This new

subgame takes place as if no previous wage agreements had been made (reflecting a key

assumption in Stole and Zwiebels axiomatic treatment that wage agreements are not

binding and can be renegotiated by any party at any time).

Stole and Zwiebel (1996, Theorem 2) claim that this extensive form game gives

rise to the Shapley value as the unique subgame perfect equilibrium outcome (somethingthey also derive in their axiomatic treatment). However, we demonstrate below that the

informational structure between different bilateral negotiations must be more precisely

specified (Stole and Zwiebel implicitly assume that the precise wage that is paid to a

worker is not observed by other workers), and certain specific out of equilibrium beliefs

specified, for their result to hold. As will be apparent below, our extensive form

bargaining game consisting of a sequence of bilateral negotiations based on the

Binmore, Rubinstein and Wolinsky outcome is a natural extension of theirs to more

general economic environments.

Finally, we note the influential contribution of Hart and Mas-Colell (1996) to this

literature. They do not model an extensive form game based on bilateral offers and

negotiations but instead consider rounds where players have opportunities to make offers

to all active players (i.e., players who have not had a proposal rejected). If this is

accepted by all active players, the game ends. If it is not accepted by one player there is

a chance that the proposer will be excluded from the game. Hart and Mas-Colell (1996)


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demonstrate that there is a unique subgame perfect equilibrium of this game that results

in each active player receiving its Shapley value. 3 As Winter (2002) surveys, this game

has given rise to a variety of extensions but in general the institutional environment

requires the ability of proposers to make offers to all, for single rejections to nullify

agreements and for a commitment to cause proposers to risk exit following rejection.

In summary, prior extensive form games that generate Shapley value outcomes as

equilibrium outcomes, while significant, have been based in somewhat restrictive

economic environments. Either the set of choices is restricted to decisions to join

coalitions or not as in Gul (1989) and Stole and Zwiebel (1996) or alternatively, theinstitutional environment involves communication structures and commitment not present

in many important economic environments.

3. Observability of Actions

Because we consider an environment where all negotiations are bilateral, wesimilarly restrict the observability of actions to no more than two agents. We assume

below that individual actions (such as effort expended or an investment) may be

observable, and hence negotiable, with at most one other agent. Similarly, a joint action

(such as exchange of goods, services or assets) may be observed and negotiated by the

two agents concerned. However, in each case, agents outside of the agreement cannot

observe the action taken. Importantly, what this means is that agents cannot negotiate

agreements contingent upon negotiations that one or neither of them is a party to. To

3 A related multilateral mechanism based on bids for the surplus is provided by Perez-Castrillo andWettstein (2001) with the property that the Shapley value is obtained in every equilibrium outcome of thegame and not just in expectation.


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assume otherwise would be inconsistent with our restriction to bilateral bargaining and

would suggest instead that a multilateral bargaining protocol might be more appropriate.

As an example, consider an environment where there are 2 sellers ( A and B) and

two buyers (1 and 2) of a product, where 1 and 2 compete against each other in a

downstream market. Each buyer and seller can negotiate over the quantity of the product

traded between them; e.g., 1 and A negotiate over 1 A x and so on. If upstream products are

homogenous, the buyers values are functions, ),( 22111 B A B A x x x xb ++ and

, respectively (where the partial derivative of the second term is

negative). Assume that the sellers have no costs. In exchange for the product, buyers pay

the sellers a transfer; for example, 1 pays A, . Each pair trades a quantity and pays a

transfer between them.

),( 11222 B A B A x x x xb ++

1 At

The network of bilateral negotiations is as depicted in Figure 1. Notice that the

two buyers and the two sellers are assumed here not to negotiate with one another (say

for antitrust reasons). Our observability requirements will also presume that 2 will not be

able to observe 1 1( , ) A A x t or 1 1( , ) B B x t . This means that when 2 negotiates with A,

agreements cannot be made contingent upon 1 1( , ) A A x t , 1 1( , ) B B x t and 2 2( , B B ) x t .


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Figure 1: Buyer-Seller Network

A B

1 2

1 1( , ) A A x t

2 2( , ) A A x t

2 2( , ) B B x t 1 1( , ) B B x t

To formalise this, consider a set of agents, {1, 2,..., } N n= . There are three types

of actions:

1. Individually observable actions taken by i: let be the vector of such actions. ia

2. Jointly observable actions by i and j (i < j): let be the vector of

such actions.

ijx 1ijm

3. Transfers between i and j: there is a single payment from i to j, , that may be

positive or negative or zero. That is,

ijt

ij jit t =

As noted earlier, it is clear that , and are observed by i. (A1) formalizes our

unobservability assumption. Let ,

and

ia ijx ijt

( )1 2, ,... n A = a a a

( )12 13 1 23 24 2 1,, ,... , , ,... , ...n n X = x x x x x x x n n ( )12 13 1 23 24 2 1,, ,... , , ,... ,...n n n nt t t t t t =T t be the

vectors of realized actions.

(A1) (Unobservable Actions) During negotiations, agent i cannot observe ,

and T t

/ i A a

/{ }ij j N X x /{ }ij j N .


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In particular, this means that even if it is negotiating with i, j cannot directly

communicate to i the outcomes of a previous negotiation with, say, k . Instead, i must

form beliefs over those actions it cannot observe and expectations about outcomes in the

future. We let is beliefs over a particular action be superscripted with i and marked with

a tilde. That is, is beliefs regarding would be .klxiklx

To simplify notation, throughout most of the paper we focus on the simple case

where there are no individual actions, and all actions are joint actions requiring,

say, i and j to agree for to be anything other than 0. For instance, in our example, if A

and 1 cannot agree, A supplies no inputs to 1 and 1 does not pay A. At the end of Section

6, we extend the results to a more general action space.

ijx

4. Bargaining Game

We begin by stating some additional notation, before defining our extensive form

bargaining game.

Set-up and notation

The most natural way to describe the set of bilateral negotiations is by a graph ( N ,

L) which has the set of agents as its vertices each connected by a set of edges or links,

{ }{ , }{ , } , N L L i j i j N i = j . Thus, the potential number of links in a complete graph

( N , L N ) is n(n-1)/2. An individual link between i and j will be denoted (and

therefore ij = ji). L describes the state space of potential bilateral agreements. If

{ , }ij i j

ij L ,

then agents i and j can still come to a bilateral agreement. If ij L , then agents i and j


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cannot negotiate by assumption, or they have reached a disagreement state. If a pair

were to disagree (i.e., their negotiation breaks down), the new state is denoted:ij L

\ { } L ij L ij . Define L / S, the graph L restricted to the set of agents, S:

{ } / , , L S ij ij L i S j S= . Finally, for any network, L, let { }( ) s.t.S L i j ij L .

L describes a network of bilateral relationships. That network connects sub-

groups of agents or perhaps all agents. More precisely,

Definition (Connectedness). Agents i and j are connected in network L if there exists asequence of agents such that 1 2( , ,..., )t i i i 1i i= and t i j= and { }1,l li i L+ for all

. i is directly connected to j if ij{1,2, ..., 1}l t L .

Definition (Component). A set of agents h is a component of N in L if (i) allare connected in ( N,L); and (ii) for any

N , ,i h j h i j ,i h j h , i and j are not

connected. The set of all components of ( N,L) is C ( L).

Finally, for some analysis that follows it will be convenient to partition the set of

agents. is a partition of the set N if and only if (i) ; (ii)1{ ,..., } pP P P= 1 p

iiP N = = iP ;

and (iii) for all , . We define p as the cardinality of P . The set of all

partitions of N is P

j k j k P P =

P

N . For a given network ( N , K ), we can now define a graph, ( N , K P),

imputed from a partition, P . That is, { s.t. ,P iK jk K i j k P= } . In other words, ( N ,

K P) is a graph partitioned by P .

Starting with a network ( N , L), agents i and j negotiate bilaterally over choices,

and payments( )ij x K R ( )ijt K R for each withK L ij K . For a given 1 m

vector of all players actions, and a set of

transfers , an agents payoff is

( 12 13 1 23 24 2 1,, ,... , , , ... ,...n n X = x x x x x x x )n n

ijt N j iji t X u )( . Thus, we are assuming a transferable

utility environment where total surplus generated is not affected by transfers. We assume


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that is strictly concave in for any , and that)( X u i ijx N jij X }{ \ x N i i X u )( is globally

concave.

If there is no link (or a broken link) between i and j, we assume that the relevant

choice variables and are 0 (this may be a normalization, for ).ijx ijt ijx

This notation also allows us to define what we mean by a (constrained) efficient

set of agreements.

Definition (Constrained Efficiency): For a given graph K, a vector of actions *K X isconstrained efficient if

* arg max ( ) subject to 0 if K X i iji N

X u X ij K

= = x .

*K X is unique because the problem is globally concave. Let .

Thus, for a given network, , an agreement is constrained efficient if the choices

agreed upon maximise the sum of utilities of all agents, whether they are party to an

agreement or not. Similarly, for a coalition and set of links K , define , the

constrained efficient actions by agents in S alone, when other agents take no actions, that

maximize the utilities of agents in S.

*( , ) ( )K ii N v N K u X =

( , ) N K

S N ( , )v S K

Next, we define bilateral efficiency, as distinct from efficiency and constrained

efficiency:

Definition (Bilateral Efficiency). For a given graph, K, a vector of actions,

( )12 13 1 23 1, ( ), ( ),..., ( ), ( ),... ( )K n n n X K K K K K = x x x x x satisfies bilateral efficiency if and only if:

( ) ( ) arg max , \ ( ) , \ ( ) ( ) if 0

ijK K

i ij ij j ij ijij

u X K u X K ij K K ij K

+ =

x x x x xx .


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Consistent with this definition, we define: ( , ) ( )K ii N v N K u X where K X is

bilaterally efficient. For any coalition, , . is defined analogously. Note that

the values are unique given our concavity assumptions on .

S N ( , )v S K

(.)v (.)i

u

All of these concepts can be illustrated by returning to our buyer-seller network

example. In this situation, Figure 1 depicts the set of links, {1 ,1 , 2 , 2 } L A B A B= and we

have assumed that ,

and . An efficient outcome would involve

),()( 221111 B A B A L x x x xb X u ++= ),()( 112222 B A B A

L x x x xb X u ++=

( ) ( ) L L A Bu X u X = 0=

),(),(max),(1122222111,,, 2211 B A B A B A B A x x x x

x x x xb x x x xb L N v B A B A

+++++=. If, however, 1

and A could no longer negotiate or trade with one another, the network would become

{1 , 2 , 2 }K B A B= and 1 1( , A A ) x t would be set equal to (0 with, 0)

),(),(max),( 12222211,, 221 B B A B A B x x x x x xb x x xbK N v B A B +++= . Conversely, bilateral

efficient outcomes in the same network would involve( , ) N L

)|(maxarg),( 22111 1 B A B A x A x x x xb L N x A ++= and so on. Finally, if we were to partition

the set of agents into P = {{1, A}, {2, B}} then, and .{1 , 2 }P L A B= {2 }PK B=

In terms of what the parties negotiate over, recall that these are agreements

contingent on the state of the network. So 1 and A could negotiate, say, a quantity

and transfer as well as1 ( ) 3 A x L = 1 ( ) 2 At L = 1 (1 ,1 , 2 ) 4 A x A B B = and 1 (1 ,1 , 2 ) 5 At A B B =

and so on. That is, they consider all possible networks that could emerge and they can

negotiate different quantities and transfers that would be payable upon the final

realisation of any particular network. In principle, the transfers and quantities paid under


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each network contingency could be the same and the contract could be a full

commitment. However, in the equilibrium we focus on below, this will not be the case.

Information regarding the bargaining network

In what follows, a breakdown in bargaining between i and j is a situation where

the network changes from where( , ) N L ij L to ( , ) N L ij . It will also be considered

irreversible as the link between i and j can never subsequently be restored. Thus, as

breakdowns are possible, the network will potentially move from one with many links to

ones that are subsets of the original network. For convenience, we will sometimes

describe networks in terms of states with a current state and potential future states.

A key assumption here is:

(A2) (Knowledge of the Bargaining Network) The current state of the network is common knowledge.

This assumption is necessary in order for agents to negotiate contracts that are contingent

upon the state of the network. As we will see below, this assumption would also be

necessary if, rather than writing contracts contingent upon networks that may arise,

agents negotiated contracts based only on the current state of the network and

renegotiated them in the event a new network arose (following a breakdown).

Extensive form

We are now in a position to define the full extensive form game. Given ( N , L), fix

an order of the directly connected pairs, { } ij Lij . The precise order will not matter to the

solution that follows. Bargaining proceeds as follows. Each pair negotiates in turn. A

bilateral negotiation takes the following form: randomly select i or j. That agent, say i,


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makes an offer of a set of contingent actions and transfers { } ,( ), ( )ij ij K L ij K K t K x to j, for

all networks such that ijK L K . Notice that offers are contingent upon the potential

agreement state ( K ). j either accepts the offer or rejects it. If j accepts it, the offers

{ } ,( ), ( )ij ij K L ij K K t K x are all fixed and we proceed to the next pair. If j rejects the offer,

with probability 1- negotiations end and the bargaining game with the remaining pairs

continues over a new network ( , ) N L ij on the original order. Otherwise, negotiations

between i and j continue with another randomization: either i or j is picked with 50%

probability to make the next offer, over the same network K .This specification of an individual bilateral negotiation is very similar to that of

Binmore, Rubinstein and Wolinsky (1986) for stand-alone bilateral negotiations. Here,

however, bilateral negotiations are not isolated and are embedded within a sequence of

negotiating pairs; also, they cover multiple contingencies simultaneously. 4

Belief structure

Given that our proposed game involves incomplete information, to demonstrate

the existence of certain equilibrium outcomes in the game, we will need to impose some

structure on out of equilibrium beliefs. This is an issue that has drawn considerable

4 Inderst and Wey (2003) also consider negotiations over contingencies. They model multilateral

negotiations as occurring simultaneously; an agent involved in more than one negotiation delegates oneagent to bargain on their behalf in each negotiation.. This alternative specification may be appropriate forsituations where negotiations take place between firms. Agents could not observe the outcomes of negotiations they were not a party to. This would avoid the need to specify beliefs precisely in anyequilibrium. As our model applies more generally than just between firms, we chose not to rely on a similarspecification here. It is clear, however, that a delegated agent specification (where applicable) wouldgenerate a unique equilibrium outcome.

Note that Inderst and Weys treatment of individual negotiations is axiomatic rather than a full extensive-form, in the sense that they merely posit that agents split the surplus from negotiations in each differentcontingency.


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attention in the contracting with externalities literature (McAfee and Schwartz, 1994;

Segal, 1999; Rey and Verg, 2004).

It is not our intention to revisit that literature here. Suffice it to say that the most

common assumption made about what players believe about actions that they do not

observe, or that have not yet happened is the simple notion of passive beliefs. We will

utilise it through this paper. To define it, let be a set of

equilibrium agreements between all negotiating pairs.

{( ( ), ( )) }ij ij K L ij LK t K x

Definition (Passive Beliefs). When i receives an offer from j of ( ) ( )ij ijK K x x or

, i does not revise its beliefs regarding any other action in the game.

( ) ( )ij ijt K t K

At one level, this is a natural belief structure that mimics Nash equilibrium reasoning. 5

That is, if is beliefs are consistent with equilibrium outcomes as they would be in a

perfect Bayesian equilibrium then under passive beliefs, it holds those beliefs constant

off the equilibrium path as well. At another level, this is precisely why passive beliefs are

not appealing from a game-theoretic standpoint. Specifically, if i receives an unexpected

offer from an agent it knows to be rational, a restriction of passive beliefs is tantamount

to assuming that i makes no inference from the unexpected action. Nonetheless, as we

demonstrate here, passive beliefs play an important role in generating tractable and

interpretable results from our extensive form bargaining game; simplifying the

interactions between different bilateral negotiations.

5 McAfee and Schwartz (1995, p.252) noted that: one justification for passive beliefs is that each firminterprets a deviation by the supplier as a tremble and assumes trembles to be uncorrelated (say, becausethe supplier appoints a different agent to deal with each firm). Similarly, the passive beliefs equilibrium inthis paper is trembling hand perfect in the agent perfect form.


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Externalities

Most of our important results are in environments with non-pecuniary

externalities; here we define the absence of such externalities:

Definition (No Non-Pecuniary Externalities). ( ) Liu X is independent of jk x for all

{ }, jk i j i k .

That is, is utility is only affected by observable actions made by agents it is directly

connected to. Notice that, in a non-cooperative game, pecuniary externalities can still

exist through the transfers that are agreed upon in other bilateral negotiations that

themselves impact on the value of an agreement between a particular pair.

Feasibility

Below we will focus on an equilibrium outcome of our non-cooperative

bargaining game whose convenient characterisation will at times rely upon agreements

being reached in all bilateral negotiations in a network ( N , L). However, in general, an

equilibrium with this property may not exist. For instance, as Maskin (2003)

demonstrates, when an agent may be able to free ride upon the contributions and choices

of other agents, that agent may have an incentive to force breakdowns in all their

negotiations so as to avoid their own contribution. Maskin demonstrates that this is the

case for situations where there are positive externalities between groups of agents (as in

the case of public goods).

The idea that an agent or group of agents may not wish to participate in a larger

coalition is something that was an issue for Stole and Zwiebel (1996). Specifically,


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agents will not want to unilaterally or bilaterally trigger breakdowns in negotiations if the

payoffs they expect to receive are feasible.

Definition (Feasible Payoffs). A set of payoffs ),( L N i for each i is feasible if and only

if, for any sub-network and any link ij L', L L ( , ) ( , )i i N L N L ij .

As did Stole and Zwiebel (1996), we assume that the primitives of the environment are

such that feasibility is assured.

(A3) (Feasibility) In equilibrium, all payoffs are feasible .

Notice that our buyer-seller network example the payoffs are feasible as b1(.) and b2(.) are

independent of the purchases of the other buyer and hence, for all

and . However, if these buyers were competitors in some other market,

then it is possible that their purchases could enter into the utilities of each other. In this

case, an externality would be present and we cannot take it for granted that outcomes

were feasible.

( , ) ( , )v N K v N K ij

ij K K L

In general, feasibility is something that would have to be confirmed for each

environment. If it did not hold, then our bargaining game will not have an equilibrium

outcome that involved all negotiations at the initial network state being concluded with

an agreement. Some would break down.

However, as our goal here, is to consider when many inter-related bilateral

negotiations might give rise to computationally straightforward results, it is useful to state

a result where for one environment with externalities feasibility holds. This occurs when

there is component superadditivity.

Definition (Component Superadditivity). For a given set of agents, h, and graph K,suppose that . If this condition holds, for each component and each graph, , then satisfies component superadditivity.

( , ) ( , )v h K v h K ij ( )h C K K L ( , )v N L


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This leads to a first result:

Lemma 1: Suppose that satisfies component superadditivity, then theequilibrium payoffs will be feasible.

( , )v N L

All proofs are in the appendix.

5. Equilibrium Outcomes: Actions

In exploring the outcomes of this non-cooperative bargaining game, it is useful to

focus first on the equilibrium actions that emerge before turning to the transfers and

ultimate payoffs. Of course, the equilibrium described is one in which actions and

transfers are jointly determined. It is for expositional reasons that we focus on each in

turn.

Theorem 1. Suppose that all agents hold passive beliefs regarding the outcomes of negotiations they are not a party to. Given , as( , ) N L 1 , there exists a perfect

Bayesian equilibrium in which equilibrium actions L X are bilaterally efficient.

This result says that actions are chosen to maximise joint utility holding those of others as

given. It is easy to see that, in general, the outcome will not be efficient.

The intuition behind the result is subtle. Consider a pair, i and j, negotiating in an

environment where all other pairs have agreed to the equilibrium choices in any past

negotiation, there is one more additional negotiation still to come and that this negotiation

involves j and another agent, k . Given the agreements already fixed in past negotiations,

the final negotiation between j and k is simply a bilateral Binmore, Rubinstein, Wolinsky

bargaining game. That game would ordinarily yield the Nash bargaining solution if j and

k had symmetric information regarding the impact of their choices on their joint utility,

. This will be the case if i and j agree to the equilibrium( , ,.) ( , ,.) j ij jk k ij jk u x x u x x+ ij x .


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However, if i and j agree to ij ij x x , j and k will have different information. Specifically,

while, under passive beliefs, k will continue to base its offers and acceptance decisions on

an assumption that ij x has occurred, js offers and acceptances will be based on ij x . That

is, j will make an offer, ( , ( )) jk jk ijt x x , that maximises ( , ,.) j ij jk jk u x x t rather than

( , ,.) j ij jk jk u x x t subject to k accepting that offer. Moreover, we demonstrate that j will

reject offers made to it by k .

In this case, the question becomes: will i and j agree to some ij ij x x ? If they do,

this will alter the equilibrium in subsequent negotiations. j will anticipate this, however,

the assumption of passive beliefs means that i will not. That is, even if they agreed to

ij ij x x , i would continue to believe that jk x will occur. For this reason, i will continue to

make offers consistent with the proposed equilibrium. On the other hand, j will make an

offer, , that maximises( , )ij ijt x ( , ( ),.) ( ) ( ( )) j ij jk ij ij ij jk jk iju x x x t x t x x + rather than

( , ,.) j ij jk ij jk u x x t t subject to i accepting that offer. We demonstrate that this is

equivalent to j choosing:

arg max ( , ( ),.) ( , ,.) ( , ( ),.)ijij x j ij jk ij i ij jk k ij jk ij

x u x x x u x x u x x + + x

which, by the envelope theorem applied to jk x , has ij ij x x = , the bilaterally efficient

action. By a similar argument, j does not find it worthwhile to deviate in a series of

several negotiations.

Finally, it is useful to state a case where the perfect Bayesian equilibrium outcome

under passive beliefs is efficient:


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Corollary 1. Assume the conditions of Theorem 1 and that there are no non-pecuniaryexternalities for all i. Then given , as( , ) N L 1 , there exists a perfect Bayesianequilibrium in which actions are constrained efficient.

In effect, Corollary 1 can be viewed as a generalisation of the results of Segal (1999,

Proposition 3) that when there are no externalities, contracts are efficient.

6. Equilibrium Outcomes: Transfers and Payoffs

We are now in a position to consider the equilibrium transfers and payoffs. As

was determined above, when there are externalities present, sequential bilateral

bargaining does not lead to a maximised surplus. Instead, under passive beliefs, it yields a

Nash equilibrium where actions are taken ignoring externalities on other agents. In this

sense, the outcome is very different from what might emerge from cooperative

bargaining.

However, we demonstrate here that while surplus is determined in a non-

cooperative manner, under the same passive beliefs assumption, surplus division takes on

a form attractively similar to cooperative bargaining outcomes. In particular, depending

upon the nature of externalities and the network of bilateral negotiations, the division of

whatever surplus is created gives agents a generalization of their Myerson value on that

reduced surplus. As such, the division of surplus between players has an appealing

coalitional structure even if the surplus is non-cooperatively determined.

Some definitions

It is useful at this point to state some additional definitions from cooperative

bargaining theory using our notation.


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A characteristic function V (S) assigns a payoff to a coalition S of players, who are

cooperating with each other but not with anyone else in their coalition. If the possibility

of cooperation between agents is represented as a link in a graph, when players form a

coalition, they have severed their links to anyone outside their coalition. Cooperative

game theory assumes that coalition S cooperates internally so as to maximize its total

payoff. However, beginning with Myerson (1977a), the cooperative literature allows for

the possibility that cooperation may be restricted initially to an (exogenously given)

graph ( N , L), even before any coalitions S have broken links with other players. Thus

players in a coalition S who are not connected within S are assumed to be unable tocooperate with each other; there may be several components in S, and cooperation is

restricted to components. Jackson and Wolinsky (1996) further extend the restrictions

imposed by graphs by allowing the structure of the graph within a component to affect

the payoff of the component; we adopt that extension here. Therefore, let a characteristic

function assign a payoff to a component h of a graph L. A coalition S may be

composed of several components, thus we define

( , )V h L

( ),( , ) ( , )

h C L h SV S L V h L

= . (Note that

V (S, L) is not defined if any iS is connected to any j N \ S.)

Most of cooperative game theory is concerned with environments in which there

are no externalities between players in different components. If there are no component

externalities , .( , ) ( , ) , . . if V h K V h K K K s t i h i K K =

Definition (Myerson Value). Given a characteristic function , and anenvironment in which there are no component externalities between players in different components, the Myerson value of agent i,

( , / )V S L S

( )i L is:

( ) ( )( ):

! 1 !( , ) , /( ) ( , / )

!i S N i S

S N S N L V S i L S i V S L S

N

= .


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Notice that for a complete, graph, L N , ( , ) N i N L is the Shapley value.

In the spirit of cooperative game theory, the characteristic function should

represent the total payoff to a coalition when members take the actions (among those

possible) that maximize the coalitions payoff; in other words, the constrained efficient

actions. Therefore Jackson and Wolinsky (1996) would define the characteristic function

as / / ( , ) ( , ) max ( )K Scoop K Si X i SV S K v S K u X = . Notice, however, that for any

characteristic function, a Myerson value can be calculated.

The Myerson value is somewhat restrictive in that it is not defined in situations

where different groups of agents impose externalities upon one another. Myerson (1977b)

generalised the Shapley value to consider externalities by defining it for games in

partition function form. Here we define a further generalization of the Myerson value to

allow for a partition function space as well as a graph of potential communications (as in

Navarro 2003). 6 The characteristic function V (h, L) in such an environment depends on

the structure of the entire graph, both within component h and in other components.

Definition (Generalized Myerson Value). Given a characteristic function , theGeneralized Myerson value of agent i in graph ( , ,

( , )V S L) N L ( , )i N L , is:

1 1 1( , ) ( 1) ( 1)! ( , )( 1)( ) N

P Pi

S P i S PP PS S

N L P V S L N P N S

=

.

It is easy to demonstrate that when there are no externalities between different

components (i.e., ( ) Liu X is independent of kl x for any k and l not in the same component

6 Navarro (2003) includes a definition of the Generalized Myerson Value or Myerson Value in PartitionFunction Form, and similar properties to those derived in the appendix.


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as i), this value is equivalent to the Myerson value and, in addition, if it is defined over a

complete graph, it is equivalent to the Shapley value. 7

Some Issues: An Illustrative Example

Before turning to consider these results, it is useful to highlight some important

technical issues by way of an illustrative example. Consider a situation in which there are

three agents (1, 2 and 3), each of whom can negotiate bilaterally with one another; that is,

our starting point is a complete graph. We will denote this initial network by 123. If there

is a breakdown in negotiations between one pair that will result in a network of 1-2-3, 1-

3-2 or 2-1-3 respectively; with the middle agent the agent who has not had a breakdown

with any of the other two agents. If there are two breakdowns in negotiations, the

networks may become 12, 13 or 23. Finally, if all three negotiations breakdown, the state

becomes 0.

We suppose also that there are only joint actions and, using the result in Theorem

1, those actions will lead to a payoff to agent i of ; for example, if network 1-2-3

occurs, the expected negotiated actions are such that

( )iu K

1(1 2 3)u is generated to agent 1.

To see how payoffs and transfers are determined in equilibrium, note that, as the

probability of a breakdown anywhere, , goes to 0, we can treat negotiations over

7 How would cooperative game theorists choose ? They would expect agents to maximize thepayoff to their component, but how would they act towards other components? There are relatively fewapplications to guide us. Myerson (1977c) considers an environment in which each coalition takes theaction that maximizes the coalitions payoff (because, in graphical terms, all members are directly linked),while taking as given the actions of other coalition. In other words, the coalitions are playing a Nashequilibrium strategy against the other coalitions. (Assumptions must be made to ensure the uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium.) Note once again that for any characteristic function , the generalizedMyerson value can be calculated.

( , )V S L

( , )V S L


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transfers in each state as separate bilateral negotiations between each negotiating pair. If

this is 12, then, then our bargaining game results in the Nash bargaining solution:

(1 12 1 2 12 2

112 1 2 2 12

(12) (0) (12) (0)

(12) (12) (12) (0) (0)

u t u u t u

t u u u u

= +

= + )

)

(1)

With 13 and 23 defined similarly. For 1-2-3 these are:

(2)(

1 12 1

2 12 23 2 23

(1 2 3) (1 2 3) (23)

(1 2 3) (1 2 3) (1 2 3) (23) (23)

u t u

u t t u t

= +

( )2 12 23 2 12

3 23 3

(1 2 3) (1 2 3) (1 2 3) (12) (12)

(1 2 3) (1 2 3) (12)

u t t u t

u t u

+ +=

(3)

(with 1-3-2 and 2-1-3 defined similarly). And for 123, these are:

( )( )

1 12 13 1 13

2 12 23 2 23

(123) (123) (123) (1 3 2) (1 3 2)

(123) (123) (123) (1 3 2) (1 3 2)

u t t u t

u t t u t

= +

(4)

( )( )

1 12 13 1 12

3 13 23 3 23

(123) (123) (123) (1 2 3) (1 2 3)

(123) (123) (123) (1 2 3) (1 2 3)

u t t u t

u t t u t

= + + +

(5)

( )( )

2 12 23 2 12

3 13 23 3 13

(123) (123) (123) (2 1 3) (2 1 3)(123) (123) (123) (2 1 3) (2 1 3)

u t t u t u t t u t

+ = + + +

(6)

with the total number of transfer prices over all contingent negotiations being 12. While

solving for transfers would appear to be possible with 12 bargaining equations and 12

unknowns, equations (4) , (5) and (6) are linearly dependent. For there are many

consistent transfer prices , and that will satisfy those

equations. In other cases, the transfer prices are uniquely determined. It is for this reason

that we refer in theorems to equilibrium payoffs rather than equilibrium transfers

themselves. Nonetheless, even though particular transfer prices are not uniquely

determined in some networks, payoffs are uniquely determined.

12 (123)t 13 (123)t 23 (123)t


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The recursive structure of the equations provides a simple algorithm for finding

the solution. Thus, in this game, it is straightforward to demonstrate that in equilibrium,

agents receive:

( ) ( )( ) ( )( )

1 11 1 2 3 1 2 33 3

1 11 2 3 1 2 36 6

11 2 36

(123) (123) (123) (123) 2 (23) (23) (23)

(12) (12) 2 (12) (13) 2 (13) (13)

2 (0) (0) (0)

u u u u u u

u u u u u u

u u u

= + + + + + + ++ + +

( ) ( )( ) ( )( )

1 12 1 2 3 1 2 33 6

1 11 2 3 1 2 36 3

11 2 36

(123) (123) (123) (123) 2 (23) (23) (23)

(12) (12) 2 (12) (13) 2 (13) (13)

(0) 2 (0) (0)

u u u u u u

u u u u u u

u u u

= + + + + ++ + + + + +

( ) ( )( ) ( )( )

1 13 1 2 3 1 2 33 6

1 11 2 3 1 2 33 6

11 2 36

(123) (123) (123) (123) 2 (23) (23) (23)

(12) (12) 2 (12) (13) 2 (13) (13)

(0) (0) 2 (0)

u u u u u u

u u u u u u

u u u

= + + + + ++ + + ++ +

These outcomes are, in fact, each agents Generalized Myerson values for the complete

graph L N . We demonstrate below that this is a general outcome in environments with

externalities.

Notice that these payoffs do not depend on network states where there are two

bilateral negotiations despite that fact that (123)ii u does not equal (1 2 3)ii u as it

does in Myerson (1977b). Payoffs here only depend on payoffs to agents under graphs

created by partitioning the initial graph. Jackson and Wolinsky (1996) demonstrate a

similar outcome for the Myerson value. Here, the outcome arises for essentially the same

reason: that each pair of Nash bargaining equations represents a condition of balanced

contributions. This is a property that makes these bargaining outcomes particularly useful

in applications, as we do not need to solve for non-cooperative action outcomes in any


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other network besides the initial network, under all possible partitions; a substantial

reduction in the number of cases. 8

General Result

We are now in a position to state our main result.

Theorem 3. Given , as( , ) N L 1 , there exists a perfect Bayesian outcome of our extensive form bargaining game with bilaterally efficient actions L X , and with eachagent i receiving:

1 1 1 ( , ) ( 1) ( 1)! ( , )( 1)( ) N

P Pi

S P i S PP PS S

N L P v S Ln P n S

=

.

In other words, each agent receives their generalized Myerson value associated with

characteristic function . Agents take their bilaterally efficient actions,

rather than those which maximize the payoff to their component . Thus, in equilibrium, we

have a generalized Myerson value type division of a reduced surplus. That surplus is

generated by a bilaterally efficient outcome in which each bilateral negotiation

maximises the negotiators own sum of utilities while ignoring the external impact of

their choices on other negotiations (as in Theorem 1).

( , ) ( , )V S L v S L=

As in Theorem 1, the proof relies upon the agents holding passive beliefs in

equilibrium. For this reason, Theorem 3 is an existence proof. Without passive beliefs,

the equilibrium outcomes are more complex and do not reduce to this simple structure.

That simplicity is, of course, the important outcome here. What we have is a bargaining

solution that marries the simple linear structure of cooperative bargaining outcomes with

8 There are n(n-1)/2 possible links, each of which can take a value of 0 or 1; thus there are potentiallypossible networks to consider. However there are at most B(n(n-1)/2) possible partitions of the

initial network (where B(s) is the Bell number for s objects).

( 1) / 22n n


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easily determined actions based on bilateral efficiency. As we demonstrate below, that

allows it to be of practical value in applied work.

To that end, directly following on from Theorem 3, are the following corollaries:

Corollary 2. Suppose that for all i N , ,( ) N Liu X ( ) L

iu X is independent of kl x for any k and l not in the same component as i. Given ( , , as) N L 1 , there exists a perfect

Bayesian outcome of our extensive form bargaining game with each agent receiving:

( ) ( )( ):

! 1 ! ( ) , /( ) ( , / )!i S N i S

S N S L v S i L S i

N

= v S L S .

Thus, if is utility is not affected by actions of agents that it is not connected to, we obtain

the Myerson (or Shapley value) type division of a reduced surplus based on bilateral

efficiency. On the other hand, with a stronger condition, we have a non-cooperative

foundation for the Myerson-Shapley value in that context:

Corollary 3. Suppose that for all i N , ( ) Liu X satisfies no non-pecuniary externalities.Given , as( , ) N L 1 , there exists a perfect Bayesian outcome of our extensive formbargaining game with each agent receiving their Myerson value.

Non-Binding Agreements

It is possible, however, that, in some environments, agents will not be able to

make agreements that are contingent upon the state K . This is a central assumption in, for

example, Stole and Zwiebel (1996) who assume that labour supply contracts are non-

binding and so can be unilaterally broken if there is a change in a publicly observed state.

To explore this, suppose that, given K , a sequence of pairs { } is fixed and

agent pairs make alternating offers to one another regarding a single choice and payment

pair. If they agree, for example, to

ij K ij

( )( ), ( )ij ij x K t K , the next pair in the sequence

negotiates. However, if a breakdown occurs, then the state changes to K ij and a new


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subgame occurs in which a sequence of pairs in K ij is fixed and bilateral negotiations

take place in sequence. On the other hand, if there is no breakdown in a sequence then the

agreements { }( ), ( )ij ij ij K x K t K stand and each agents payoff is determined.

This case involves non-binding agreements. An interpretation of this is that while

each pair might arrive at an agreement, if there is a change in circumstance that is, the

state of agreements, K then any individual agent can re-open negotiations with any

other agent it is still linked to in K . This is precisely the generalisation of the Stole-

Zwiebel bargaining game to our more general environment.

It is straightforward to demonstrate that the proofs of all results in particular,

Theorems 1 and 3 are unchanged by this. The reason is that in those proofs we focus on

an equilibrium where agreements contingent upon a state maximise the joint payoffs of

the parties concerned. This is precisely what would happen if, in fact, the parties were to

re-negotiate contract terms following the observation of a state ( K ) rather than prior to it.

Indeed, this simplifies the belief structure considerably as they are the subgame perfect

outcomes following a breakdown whereas in our contingent contract case they are the

expectation of agreements signed by others.

More General Action Spaces

For simplicity, we have considered a fairly restrictive action space, composed

exclusively of joint actions. In this section, we extend our results to the fully general

action space. For a given graph, K , a vector of actions ( , )K K A X is made up of

individually and jointly observable actions. Let a i be is actions that are observable to i

alone, a j similarly defined for j and ( )( ) ( ), ( ), ( )i j ijij ij ij ijK K K K =x x x x be made up of ,iijx


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the vector of actions taken by i, jijx be the vector of actions taken by j, and be the

vector of joint actions (requiring cooperation between i and j to be other than 0).

ijijx

Definition (Bilateral Efficiency with individual and joint actions). For a given graph,K, a vector of actions, ( , )K K A X satisfies bilateral efficiency if and only if:

( ) ( ) ( ) arg max , , \ ( ) , , \ ( ) for allij K K K K ij i ij ij j ij ijK u A X K u A X K ij K = +xx x x x x ( ) ( ) arg max , \ ( ), for alli K K i i i iK u A K X = aa a a i

Consistent with this definition, we now define: ( , ) ( , )K K ii N v N K u A X .

Corollary 4. Theorem 1, Theorem 3, and Corollary 2 hold for ( , ) ( , )K K i

i N v N K u A X

defined for individual and joint actions.

Notice that the proofs of Theorem 1 and 3 are proven in terms of , therefore the

extension to the expanded action space is immediate. Note that if the level of has no

effect on u

( , )v N K

iijx

j when i and j are not directly connected, for any i and j, then Corollaries 1 and

3 hold. Otherwise, when i and j are not linked, the actions are not constrained

efficient, as they maximise is payoff but not the joint payoff of i and j, and therefore not

total payoff.

iijx

7. Applications

We now consider how our basic theorems apply in a number of specific contexts

where cooperative game theoretic outcomes have played an important role.

Stole and Zwiebels Wage Bargaining Game

Stole and Zwiebel (1996) develop a model of wage bargaining between a number

of workers and a single firm. The workers cannot negotiate with one another or as a


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group. Thus, the relevant network has an underlying star graph with links between the

firm and each individual worker. A key feature of Stole and Zwiebels model is that

bargaining over wages is non-binding; that is, following the departure of any given

worker (that is, a breakdown), either the firm or an individual worker can elect to

renegotiate wage payments. As noted earlier, while Stole and Zwiebel posit an extensive

form bargaining game as a foundation for their axiomatic treatment of bargaining, the

equilibria in this game are not properly characterised. Nonetheless, Theorem 3 now

provides that characterization; confirming their Shapley value outcome.

Theorem 3 now demonstrates that an assumption that wage contracts are non-binding is not necessary to motivate the Stole-Zwiebel wage bargaining outcome.

Instead, wage contracts could be made contingent upon the number of workers employed

by the firm. Thus, the economic driving force behind Stole and Zwiebels labour market

results is an environment that gives individual workers some bargaining power in ex post

wage negotiations rather than the non-binding nature of wage contracts. 9

Nonetheless, what is significant here is that, when a firm cannot easily expand the

set of workers it can employ ex post, there will be a wage bargaining outcome with

workers and the firm receiving their Myerson values (as in Corollary 2). This happens if

workers are not identical, differ in their outside employment wages, and have variable

work hours. Moreover, if there were many firms, each of whom could bargain with any

available worker ex post, each firm and each worker would receive their Myerson value

over the broader network. As such, our results demonstrate that a Myerson value outcome

9 This is also true of the results of Wolinsky (2000) who uses an axiomatic argument to justify a Shapleyvalue wage bargaining outcome. de Fontenay and Gans (2003) examine a situation where a breakdown innegotiations causes a link with one worker (the insider) to be severed and a link to be established, if possible, with a new worker. The above results do not apply to breakdowns that create links as well asremove them.


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can be employed in significantly more general environments than those considered by

Stole and Zwiebel.

It is instructive to expand on this latter point as it represents a significant

generalisation of the Stole and Zwiebel model and yields important insights into the

nature of wage determination in labour markets. Suppose that there are two identical

firms, 1 and 2, each of whom can employ workers from a common pool with a total size

of n. All workers are identical with reservation wages normalized here to 0 and if, say,

firm 1 employs n1 of them, it produces profits of F (n1); where F (.) is non-decreasing and

concave. The firms only compete in the labour and not the product market.10

The maximum industry value satisfies:

1 2, 1max ( ) ( )n n F n F n 2+ subject to 1 2n n n+ = (7)

Denote this maximised value by v(n).. In this case, as there are no non-pecuniary

externalities, Corollary 3 applies and each firm receives: 11

( )1 11

( ) ( 1) ( ) 2 ( ) ( 2) ( )( 1)( 2)

n n

i in i v i F i nn n = =

= + + + + + F i (8)

Each worker receives a wage where:( )w n

(0

1 2( ) ( ) (2 ) ( ) ( 1) ( )

( 1)( 2)

n

i

w n v n i n F i i v in n n n =

= + ++ + )

(9)

It is relatively straightforward to demonstrate that is decreasing in n as in the single

firm Stole and Zwiebel model.

( )w n

10 It should be readily apparent that our model here will allow for competing, non-identical firms as well asa heterogeneous workforce.11 The complete derivation of these values can be provided by the authors on request.


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What is interesting is to examine the effect of firm competition in the labour

market by considering wage outcomes when the two firms above merge. In this case, the

bargaining wage, , becomes:( ) M w n

0

1 1( ) ( ) ( )

( 1)

n

M i

w n v n v in n n =

= + (10)

One would normally expect that ( ) ( ) M w n w n< as there is a reduction in competition for

workers with a merged firm; pushing wages down. However, this is only the case if:

(0

1( 2 ) ( ) 2 ( )

( 1)( 2)

n

i

n i v i F in n n =

) 0 + + > (11)

does not always hold. For example, suppose that iiF =)( , and suppose that workers

can work part time for each firm, then 12( ) 2 ( )v i F i= . In this case, the LHS of (11)

becomes (2 1( 1)( 2) 20 ( 2 ) ( ) ( )n

n n n in i F i F i+ + = ). The terms within the summation move

from negative to positive and so if 12( ) ( )F i F i is decreasing in i, then the entire

expression will be negative so that . Thus, the simple intuition may not

hold.

( ) ( ) M w n w n>

The model here reveals why workers may be able to appropriate more surplus

facing a merged firm than two competing ones. While it is true that in negotiations with

an individual worker, a merged firms bargaining position is improved as workers must

leave the industry if negotiations breakdown, it does not have the advantage a competing

firm does in being able to draw in a replacement worker from another firm. 12

Interestingly, this suggests that competing firms may have two reasons not to expand the

12 This result is related to de Fontenay and Gans (2003) who consider replacement workers in a single firmStole-Zwiebel environment and demonstrate that replacement workers are more effective than internalworkers in keeping bargained wages down.


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pool of available workers as Stole and Zwiebel argue a single firm might. First,

expanding that pool provides a positive externality to the other firm and so there is a free-

rider effect if that expansion (say through training) is costly. But, second, the presence of

a second firm may result in a lower bargained wage, thereby, alleviating incentives to

inefficiently expand production to keep them down. Indeed, (11) is less likely to hold as n

expands.

General Buyer-Seller Networks

Perhaps the most important application of the model presented here is to the

analysis of buyer-seller networks. These are networks where buyers purchase goods from

sellers and engage in a series of bilateral transactions; the joint actions between them

being the total volume of trade. Significantly, it is often assumed for practical and

antitrust reasons that the buyers and sellers do not negotiate with others on the same

side of the market. Hence, the analysis takes place on a graph with restricted

communication and negotiation options.

In this literature, models essentially fall into two types. The first assumes that

there are externalities between buyers (as might happen if they are firms competing in the

same market) but that there is only a single seller (e.g., McAfee and Schwartz, 1994;

Segal, 1999; de Fontenay and Gans, 2004) while the second assumes that there are no

externalities between buyers but there are multiple buyers and sellers (Cremer and

Riordan, 1987; Kranton and Minehart, 2001; Inderst and Wey, 2003; Prat and Rustichini,

2003; Bjornerstedt and Stennek, 2002). 13 In each case, however, the underlying

13 Horn and Wolinsky (1988) permit externalities between buyers but sellers are constrained to deal with asingle buyer.


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bargaining or market game differs from the model here ranging from a series of take it or

leave it offers (McAfee and Schwartz, 1994) to auction-like mechanisms (Kranton and

Minehart, 2001) to a simultaneous determination of bilateral negotiations (Inderst and

Wey, 2003).

Nonetheless, regardless of the type of model, this literature is predominantly

focused upon whether bilateral transactions between buyers and sellers can yield efficient

outcomes. The broad conclusion is that where there are externalities between buyers, the

joint payoff of buyers and sellers is only maximised when those externalities are not

present.Our environment here encompasses both of these model types permitting

externalities between buyers (and indeed sellers) as well as not restricting the numbers or

set of links between either side of the market. In so doing, we have demonstrated that

when there are no non-pecuniary externalities i.e., the only externalities for variables

that are bilaterally contractible between agents occur through prices then industry

profits are maximised (Corollary 1). Thus, it provides a general statement of the broad

conclusion of the buyer-seller network literature. Similarly, we have a fairly precise

characterization of outcomes when there are externalities: firms will produce Cournot

quantities, in the sense that the contracts of upstream firm A with downstream firm 1 will

take the quantities sold by A to downstream firms 2, m as given; and the quantities sold

by B to downstream firms 1, m as given.

Ultimately, the framework here allows one to characterize fully the equilibrium

outcome in a buyer-seller network where buyers compete with one another in

downstream market. The key advantage is that the cooperative structure of individual


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firm payoffs makes their computability relatively straightforward. For example, consider

a situation with m identical downstream firms each of who can negotiate with two

(possibly heterogeneous) suppliers, A and B. In this situation, applying Theorem 3, As

payoff is:

( ) ( )( )

( )

,0 0

0

0 0

( 1) ( )2

( 2) | |

2

( 1) |1

A B A B

A

A B A B

x im x

A A B x i

m x x m x x i A B

A A B B B Am xmi A

m x x x x A B

A A B B

m xv m x

x im i

m x xv x x v x x

m x im im

x xv x x

m x

= =

=

= =

= +

+ + +

+ +

(12)

where is the bilaterally efficient (i.e., Cournot) surplus that can be achieved

when both suppliers can both supply m x downstream firms and

, ( A Bv m x )

( ) A A Bv x x is the

bilaterally efficient surplus generated by A and x A downstream firms when those x A

downstream firms can only be supplied by A and there are x B downstream firms that can

only be supplied by B (with no downstream firms able to be supplied by both). Thus, with

knowledge of ,

B

, ( ) A Bv m s ( ) A A Bv x x and ( B A Bv x x ) , using demand and cost assumptions

to calculate Cournot outcomes, it is a relatively straightforward matter to compute each

firms payoff.

Significantly, this solution can be used to analyse the effects of changes in the

network structure of a market. The linear structure makes comparisons relatively simple.

For example, Kranton and Minehart (2001) explore the formation of links between

buyers and sellers while de Fontenay and Gans (2005) explore changes in those links as a

result of changes in the ownership of assets. The cooperative game structure of payoffs

in particular its linear structure makes the analysis of changes relatively


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straightforward. It is also convenient for analyzing the effect of non-contractible

investments. 14

Other environments with externalities

The framework is well-suited to a number of environments with more specific

externalities. For instance, a patent holder, or several patent holders with competing

innovations, may bargain sequentially with potential licensees. One very interesting area

to explore is upstream externalities, which have received little attention: for instance,

firms negotiating over oil contracts on adjoining tracts of land, when the amount pumped

from one property negatively affects the reserves or the cost of pumping on adjoining

properties.

8. Conclusion and Future Directions

This paper has analysed a non-cooperative, bilateral bargaining game that

involves agreements that may impose externalities on others. In so doing, we have

demonstrated that the generation of overall surplus is likely to be inefficient as a result of

these externalities but surplus division results in payoffs involving the weighted sums of

surplus generated by different coalitions. As such, there exists an equilibrium bargaining

outcome that involves a cooperative division of a non-cooperative surplus; a

generalisation of both the Shapley and Myerson values in cooperative bargaining. This is

both an intuitive outcome but also one that provides a tractable foundation for applied

work involving interrelated bilateral exchanges.

14 See Inderst and Wey (2003) for an analysis of investments in a related framework.


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Appendix

Proof of Lemma 1

The strategy of the proof of this is to demonstrate first that we can map our gameand its payoffs with externalities to one that is equivalent but is a coalitional gamewithout externalities with Shapley values corresponding to the payoffs in the originalgame. We can then use that equivalence, to apply the results of Myerson (1977a) andshow that no agent has an incentive to cause a breakdown in bilateral negotiations.

Owen (1986) shows that every coalitional game, , that assigns a payoff (T ) toeach subset T of N can be represented as a unique linear combination of unanimitygames. A unanimity game assigns the following payoffs:Su

(13)1( ) if 0 otherwis

S S T u T = e

Given that there are 2 N possible subsets, this implies that there are 2 N parameters thatdefine any particular game, .

Shapley values satisfy three properties: linearity, symmetry, and no payments tocarriers, that is, players who add nothing to value. Those last two properties imply thatthe Shapley value payoff to the players of a unanimity game must be 1/ s for each of the s members of S, and 0 for everyone else. So the payoff to players in a unanimity game ispinned down uniquely by the properties.

Linearity means the following: Suppose game is a linear combination of twogames, and . Then the Shapley value of each player in game ,1 2 i

, has the same

linear relation to the Shapley values of games 1 and 2 : If, for any set T ,

1 2( ) ( ) ( )T a T b T = + , then 1i ia b 2i = + . Linearity implies that if each game is a

unique linear combination of unanimity games, then its Shapley value is uniquely

defined: If, for any T , then( ) ( )sSS N T a u

= T S i Sui S N a = , for all i. So the

Shapley value of agents in game are uniquely defined by 2 N coefficients.The next step is to take a given network state and determine whether the payoffs

are feasible. If this is done for any arbitrary network state, the proof will carry over to allpossible states.

Consider the set of players h (including i and j) who form a component in thecurrent form of the graph, g (where ij g ); the players in h are not necessarily acomponent in the graph .g ij

Now lets imagine two games with no externalities and no graph structure, and, which are defined only for those k players in h. The Shapley values for game are


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called i , and for game are called i

(for each i h ). Let and v be the

characteristic functions of the coalitional games andv

, respectively. No restrictionsare imposed on the games except the following:

( ,v v h g = )

)

)

(1 equation)

( ,v v h g ij = (1 equation)For every i, ( N equations)( )i i g

= For every i, ( N equations)(i i g ij

= Where is is payoff in the original game.( )i g

Therefore there are N +1 constraints imposed on the values of each game and of itsShapley values. Any game and its Shapley value are uniquely defined by 2 N parameters, the coefficients Sa

that define the relationship to unanimity games.

Therefore, so long as 1 2 N N + , which always holds, there are enough degrees of freedom to write down games and that satisfy these conditions.

Component superadditivity of the game with externalities (which holds byassumption) implies that , and, therefore, that the same holds for thegame without externalities. Without specifying additional, notation, this condition alsohas to hold for an augmented game including possible sub-graphs. This requires another2

( , ) ( , )v h g v h g ij

N equations or inequalities to satisfy. We still have enough degrees of freedom so longas , which holds whenever . (When2 2 2 2(2 ) N N + + N 3 N 3 N < , the original gamehas no externalities be definition and so feasibility is not an issue.)

Finally, following the proof in Myerson (1977a), we define a final game. Since, by construction, = has value of 0 for any coalition that does not

include i and j, and weakly positive value for any set that includes i and j, the Shapleyvalue of i for game is positive, by the representation of the Shapley value as anexpected marginal contribution. Thus, , for all i, and thus, by the linearity of

Shapley values,

0i

i i ij, and therefore ( ) ( )i ig g .

Proof of Theorem 1

We will prove this proposition first for an alternative game the nonbindingcontracts game whereby pairs do not negotiate contingent agreements based on thenetwork state but instead agreements are non-binding and can, following a breakdown

(i.e., change in the network state) be renegotiated. Those negotiations are pairwise andtake place in the original order between all remaining pairs. We then demonstrate that theequilibrium outcome of the nonbinding contracts game is also an equilibrium outcome of our baseline game where binding contingent contracts are negotiated by each pair.

As we are solving for a Nash equilibrium, we need only consider the incentivesfor one player, i, to deviate. Without loss in generality, let the current state of the network be L, and let be the equilibrium outcome and also ( , ) ({ ( )} ,{ ( )} L L ij ij L ij ij L X T L t L= x )


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agents beliefs regarding unobserved actions. Let us assume for simplicity that i alwaysgets to make the first offer, noting that if this were not the case, as approached 1, playeri would simply reject any offer that differed from the offer that they would have made.

Suppose i is involved in s negotiations, and re-name the agents that i negotiateswith as 1 to s. When i comes to negotiate with player s, in their final round, if i hasdeviated in previous negotiations, i can offer a deviation that s will accept in this round.

Without loss in generality, suppose that i has deviated in only a single pastnegotiation, agreeing to ( ( ), ( )ij ij ) L t L x rather than ( )ij Lx and . In making the firstoffer to s, i solves the following problem:

( )ijt L

, \{ , , }

max ( , , \{ ( ), ( )}) 'is is

Lt i is ij is ij is ij ik

k N i j s

u X L L t t

t x x x x x

subject to \{ , }

( , \{ ( )}) (1 ) Ls is is is ks s sik N i s

u X L t t V

+ + + x x

where V s is ss expectation of their payoff if it makes a counter-offer, and si is sspayoff if there is a breakdown in negotiations between i and s and a renegotiationsubgame is triggered. By subgame perfection, neither of these values is affected by thecurrent offer: the game after a breakdown is an independent subgame, becausebreakdown is irrevocable. And because any player can unilaterally renegotiate after abreakdown of any player, no enforceable agreements can be written on that subgame. Thetransfer payment provides a degree of freedom that allows i to make the constraint bind;therefore:

\{ , }

(1 ) ( , /{ ( )}) Lis s si ks s is isk N i s

t V t u X L

= + x x

and i solves:

1

1

max ( , , /{ ( ), ( )})

( , /{ ( )})

(1 )

is

Li is ij is ij

Ls is is

s

ij s si j

u X L L

u X L

t V

=

+

x x x x x

x x

where the last three terms of the expression do not depend on . Nonetheless, a past

deviation may cause a deviation in future negotiations. Let us call this new value .isx

( )is ijx x

The issue becomes, anticipating this, will that past deviation actually occur?Consider is negotiation with j. Without loss of generality, we will assume that j is is (1-s)th negotiation. Under passive beliefs, js offers will not change even following analternative offer from i; as it does not use this information to revise j jis is=x x . i doesanticipate this and when making an offer to j, solves:

2

,1

max ( ( ), , /{ ( ), ( )}) ( )ij ij

s L

t i is ij ij is ij ij is ij ij j

u X L L t t

=

x x x x x x x t


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subject to ( , /{ ( )}) (1 ) L j ij ij ij j jiu X L t V + + x x

Substituting in the constraint and is expected ( )is ijt x , we have:

2

1

max ( ( ), , /{ ( ), ( )})

( , /{ ( )})

( ( ), /{ ( )})

(1 ) (1 )

ij

Li is ij ij is ij

L j ij ij

Ls is ij is

s

j ji s si j

u X L L

u X L

u X L

V V

=

++

ijt

x x x x x x

x x

x x x

where again the terms in the last line do not depend on . Note that, if the equilibrium

quantities are bilaterally efficient, implying

ijx

( , ) ({ ( )} ,{ ( )} L L ij ij L ij ij L X T L t L= x )( ) ( )

( ) ( ) 0 L L

i s

is is

u X u X L L

+ =x x for all i and s, then by the envelope theorem ( ( )) ( )is ij is L L =x x x .

Consequently, this maximisation problem gives the same solution as: max ( , /{ ( )}) ( , /{ ( )}

ij

L Li ij is j ij isu X L u X L+x x x x x ) .

Thus, there is no deviation from the equilibrium negotiations with j under bilaterallyefficient quantities and hence, no deviation in subsequent negotiations. No otherequilibrium exists, because a profitable deviation exists if the quantities negotiated arenot bilaterally efficient.

The completion of the proof for the contingent contract case can be easily done bynoting that the transferable utility in each contingency can be used to support anequilibrium whereby each contingent negotiation is treated as a separate negotiation (see

proof of Theorem 3 for more detail).

Proof of Theorem 3

The proof of this theorem has two parts. First, we need to establish the set of conditions that characterise the unique cooperative game allocation in a partition functionenvironment when the communication structure is restricted to a graph. Second, we willdemonstrate that an equilibrium of our non-cooperative bargaining game satisfies theseconditions.

Part 1: Conditions Characterising the Generalised Myerson Value

Myerson (1977a) examines a communication structure restricted to a graph something that is extended by Jackson and Wolinsky (1996) and demonstrates that theMyerson value is the unique allocation of the surplus under a fair allocation condition anda component balance condition. Myerson (1977b) defines a cooperative value for a gamein partition function space but does not examine this on a restricted communicationstructure nor does he provide a characterisation of that outcome based on conditions such


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as fair allocation and component balance. Given our general environment here, we firstfill these gaps.

Let v(S, K P) be the underlying value function of a game in partition function formwith total number of agents ( S) and graph of communication ( K ). Here are somedefinitions important for the results that follow.

Definition (Allocation Rule). An allocation rule is a function that assigns a payoff vector, , for a given (N, v, L).( , , ) R N N v L Y

Definition (Component Balance). An allocation rule, , is component balanced if for every

Y( , , ) ( , )ii h N v L h L = ( )h C L , where ( , ) ii hh L u = .

Definition (Fair Allocation). An allocation rule, , is fair if for every

Y( , , ) ( , , ) ( , , ) ( , , )i i j j N v L N v L ij N v L N v L ij = ij L .

The final two conditions are amendments of similar conditions imposed in Myerson(1977a) and Jackson and Wolinsky (1996) but for the notation in this paper.

The method of proof will be the following. First, Lemma 1 establishes that undercomponent balance and fair allocation, there is a unique allocation rule. Second, we showthat the generalized Myerson value satisfies fair allocation and component balance. Thus,using Lemma 1, this implies that the generalized Myerson value is the unique allocationrule for this type of cooperative game.

First, we note the following result from Navarro (2003):

Lemma 2 (Navarro 2003). For a given cooperative game (N, v, L), under component balance and fair allocation, there exists a unique allocation rule.

Next we demonstrate that the generalized Myerson value satisfies fair allocation.Let i and j be linked together by a graph L, where payoffs to groups are described by acomponent additive payoff function v(.| L). Suppose that each agent i receives theirgeneralized Myerson value from the game ( N , v, L) in partition function form:

1 1 1( , ) ( 1) ( 1)! ( , )( 1)( ) N

p Pi

S P i S PP PS S

N L p v S L N p N S

=

.

We aim to show that ( ) ( )( , ) ( , ) ( , ) ( , ) 0i i j j L v L ij v L v L ij v =.


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( ) ( )

( )

( )

1

( , ) ( , ) ( , ) ( , )

1( , ) ( , ( ) )

( 1)( )

( 1) ( 1)!1

( , ) ( , ( ) )( 1)( )

N

i i j j

P P

i S PS S p

S PP PP P

j S PS S

L v L ij v L v L ij v

v S L v S L ij p N S

p

v S L v S L ij p N S

= +

Consider any partition P , and any set S of that partition. If i and j are members of S , itdoes not appear in the summation. If neither i nor j are members of , it appears in thetop and the bottom line of the parenthesis, and cancels out. Thus, the only relevant case iswhen

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